Chapter 27

The following day, the eleventh of January, was a bit more subdued for Harry and Hermione.

The day did start with Harry telling Hermione about having gone through another nightmare where she was harmed because of the article. In all honesty, Hermione hadn't been surprised about the occurrence, after the happenings of the previous day. She kept that to herself, however, and instead simply made her promise to Harry that she would sneak into his dormitory to be with him that night.

Also, at breakfast later, the two of them had just finished eating when the owl post arrived. Once again, Hermione received dozens of letters, making her the center of attention as students in the Great Hall watched her while every last letter was dropped. While those people continued staring, Hermione told Harry to help check for any names of people they may know. Since there ended up being zero letters fitting that criterion, Harry and Hermione shrunk the letters and returned to the common room to just burn them all.

Beyond that and a few times where people grouped together would start muttering among themselves when the two of them would pass by, it was a mostly normal day of classes and N.E.W.T. studies. Hermione did, however, receive an additional statement of support from Padma Patil, Parvati's sister, as soon as Arithmancy ended that evening. Padma told her that it was ridiculous how so many in Britain were going after her just because of a single gossip article that provided no actual evidence. Hermione gave her thanks to the Ravenclaw girl, and Harry was grateful for another person being on their side, when he heard about the event.

That one day was the only sort of reprieve, however, before craziness once again hit the school.

At breakfast the next day, Neville and Luna had joined Harry and Hermione, so the two of them only got halfway finished with their plates before the owl post had arrived. Another pile of letters for Hermione was dropped, and again all the letters were from complete strangers. She and Harry shrunk the letters again so that they could make the journey to Gryffindor Tower, but before they could get up from their seats, Neville called for them.

He exclaimed, "Harry, Hermione! Before you go, you need to read this main article."

He held out his copy of the Daily Prophet that he and Luna had been reading. Harry and Hermione looked at each other in confusion at Neville's joyous tone, before Hermione then took the paper. Their eyes immediately widened, as the two began to read.

The article first had a few sentences from the writer, saying that both the Auror Office and the Minister himself had statements proclaiming Hermione's innocence in the claim of love potions. It next moved on to quotes from Head Auror Robards. The man spoke of the fact that Harry and Hermione had gotten a signed statement of health from Madam Pomfrey, which was verified by the matron herself, proving that Harry had zero potions within him. He also talked about being glad that the two of them had such foresight to get absolute proof as early as possible so that the matter could be quickly resolved.

Next, the article gave Kingsley's words. The Minister first agreed that Harry and Hermione having the caution to get early proof was a good thing, even saying that Alastor Moody would have been proud of their move. After that, he lamented the fact that the two teenagers had a cynical enough view about the country's attitude towards Hermione after the article from Rita Skeeter that the two felt it necessary to get that proof so early in the first place. He then said that Hermione played an instrumental part in the war by helping Harry and being at his side, as well as having such good character that she had worked in previous years to try and help the house-elves of Hogwarts however she could.

Finally, Kingsley ended his statement by saying that he hoped everyone in Britain was happy to have forced the Auror Office to find out that two teenagers had simply begun to find happiness with one another after the dark times of the Second Wizarding War had passed. Even from just plain text, Hermione could clearly hear the sarcasm in the words directed at the rest of the population. The article then concluded with the writer just giving one statement about this being a turn of events that few could have predicted.

After finishing, Hermione realized that there was a general hum of voices throughout the Great Hall. Taking a glance around the room, she saw a great majority of people looking at their own copies of the Daily Prophet, many doing so in confusion, and murmuring to one another. She wondered how many people would be convinced by the words of the Ministry officials, and how many would continue to try and hold fast to Rita's initial article.

She turned to Harry when she felt him gently nudge her. He whispered, "I'm finished reading."

She gave him a nod before handing the paper back to Neville.

"Thank you for that, Neville," she told him.

"No problem," he said. "Now, if you don't mind me asking, you two really went to Madam Pomfrey? When did that happen?"

Harry responded, "Remember the night that Hermione received the Howler?"

Neville and Luna both just silently nodded.

"Well," Harry continued, "as soon as the Howler burst into flames, I told Hermione that we should have Madam Pomfrey check me for any kind of potion, so that we would have evidence in case something would happen."

Hermione added, "And thank goodness for it too, because Aurors were here the very next morning because of all the complaints about me and requests for an investigation that the Auror Office received in response to Rita's article."

Neville's eyes widened. "Wait, the morning after the Howler? That's when Professor Vector came and needed the two of you for something. Is that the reason, because Aurors actually wanted to investigate you?"

Harry and Hermione were the ones to nod this time.

Harry then said, "I will say that the Head Auror seemed like he was just doing it because it was his job after all the requests his office received. Plus, Kingsley actually came with them and, in his words, wanted to make sure things went as smoothly and painlessly as possible since the issue wasn't just going to be dropped."

Luna finally spoke. "Oh, so is that why Minister Shacklebolt made a public statement of his own?"

Hermione nodded. "It is indeed, Luna."

She then couldn't help giving a little sigh before her next words. "Of course, there's still no guarantee that people will change their minds after seeing this, but if they don't, there's not much we can do since we've given the truth of the matter."

Neville scoffed. "You shouldn't have even needed to do that much, but I can't say that it's not a good thing that you did, if it means that you won't be harassed by people now."

He then shook his head for a moment. "Well, regardless, like we've said before, Luna and I will help you out if you ever want or need it."

Luna simply smiled and nodded her agreement.

Harry and Hermione both gave their thanks before finally standing from their seats. As she moved, however, Hermione got another idea when she glanced at the copy of the Daily Prophet.

She said, "Neville, would you mind cutting out for me the subscription form that's always on the last page of each copy of the Prophet?"

He shrugged and replied, "Sure, Hermione." He pulled out his wand and used a Severing Charm to cut out the page she wanted and handed it to her.

"Thank you," she said.

Then, she added to Harry, "Alright, let's go take care of those letters."

With that, the two of them left the Great Hall. Hermione didn't fail to notice that they were once again stared at by many people the entire time they walked.

Once they were out of the hall and moving back to Gryffindor Tower, Harry quietly said, "So, do you want us to start subscribing to the paper again?"

Hermione replied, "Yes, I do, as much as I thought I never would subscribe again when I ended my subscription before the Horcrux hunt. With everything happening now, however, I think it would be best for us to start checking the paper every day for ourselves, so that we can be aware of any new developments as soon as they occur."

Harry gave a little snort. "I can't and won't argue with that logic."

His next words, though, caught her a bit by surprise. "Put the subscription in my name, then, so that I'm the one paying, especially since we only need one copy for the two of us anyway."

She stopped walking and said a bit incredulously, "Harry, you know I can pay for my own things."

He replied, "Yeah, of course I know, Hermione." He then added somewhat more sheepishly, "I would just rather you kept all of your own money to spend on things you actually like. Renewing a subscription to the Prophet is more something that we're only doing out of necessity."

His sentiment filled Hermione with warmth. She smiled and responded, "I don't even have to ask if you really mean that, because I know you wouldn't have said it if you didn't."

He just smiled and shrugged at her.

Then, to tease him, she let out an exaggerated sigh. "Alright then, I won't be stubborn on this. I will allow you to pay for our paper, if you so desire."

Harry gave a large smirk and replied, "Well thank you so kindly, oh great Brightest Witch of Her Age, for bestowing such an honor on me."

Hermione couldn't take it and burst out laughing while grabbing Harry in a hug, burying her head in his shoulder to try and muffle herself. She heard him start laughing along as he embraced her in response. They stood there for a minute, until they finally calmed down.

At that point, Hermione let go of Harry and pulled back so she could look into his eyes. With a content sigh, she said, "Thank you. I think I needed that right now."

Harry gave a warm smile. "Glad I could be of service."

He then shrugged again. "And hey, look at things this way. Kingsley and the Aurors did come out really quickly with public statements in our support, with Robards saying that the issue is finished with the proof we gave, and Kingsley even berating the entire country for wanting our relationship investigated in the first place."

She nodded. "Yes, they certainly did. I know that Kingsley told us he would make certain that a statement would be made, but I honestly wasn't expecting one to be published this quickly."

She then couldn't help becoming a bit grim. "Still…"

When Hermione trailed off, Harry jumped in. "It's still not fun to now have to wait and see just how many people come around and how many still don't believe us. Yeah, I get it, Hermione."

She sighed before glancing down the hallway and nudging her head, requesting that they continue walking. Once they were moving, she said, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be getting us down with worries about things that we can't directly control. Like you said, we have that public statement of support now. That's a large step up from where we were before today."

He replied, "Well, after everything we've been through in all these years, it's hard to not worry and expect the absolute worst. But we'll face whatever may happen."

Hermione just smiled in response. Silence held for a few seconds before she said, "Alright, let's go to the common room first to burn all those letters and then fill out the subscription form. Then, we'll go to the Owlery and get the form sent off as quickly as possible."

Harry said, "That's fine with me."

Afterwards, the rest of the morning and afternoon was business as usual for Harry and Hermione, as they went to and from their classes for the day. They still continued to receive stares and murmurs whenever they would pass a group of people in the halls as well as when they sat down in the Great Hall to eat lunch. They also, however, didn't fail to notice that a large majority of the stares this time seemed to be done in shame, as though the people knew they had been wrong to so quickly believe that initial article. It wasn't much, but it was another little step forward, and Hermione would take every one she could get in this issue.

Dinner, however, was a different story.

Neville and Luna sat with Ginny for this meal, so Harry and Hermione thought they would be alone this time. Surprisingly, though, Lavender and Parvati actually joined them, when the two saw the empty space across from Harry and Hermione. When Hermione asked about Fay and why she wasn't with them as well, Parvati said that Fay was taking extra time to continue studying some Defense material and thus would be late to dinner.

As the four all then made their plates of food, Lavender and Parvati asked if Harry and Hermione really did have to talk to Aurors over the accusation of potions. Upon receiving confirmation, the girls immediately expressed what Hermione could only call sympathetic outrage at her and Harry having been forced to do such a thing, before the two then said that at least the issue would hopefully be finished now that the Head Auror and the Minister himself had come out in support of her innocence.

After that, the group had just begun eating their food when owls suddenly burst forth into the Great Hall. Everyone in the room stopped in confusion and just stared towards the ceiling as the owls flew in and carried post.

One owl flew in and stopped on the table at Lavender and Parvati, and another surprisingly stopped a second later in front of Harry and Hermione. It had what appeared to be a copy of the Daily Prophet tied to one leg, and a pouch on the other.

At that point, Hermione turned to Harry when he whispered, "Is that really a copy of the Prophet? What could have happened that they sent out an evening edition?"

She replied, "There's only one way to find out. At least we know that our subscription is in effect now."

Harry nodded before then giving the delivery owl a Knut. Once he had taken the paper, the owl flew off. When he unfolded it to the first page, the name Evening Prophet across the top did indeed confirm their suspicions. And similar to that morning, their eyes widened hugely upon seeing the main article.

RITA SKEETER REVEALED AS AN ANIMAGUS AND ARRESTED

Special Correspondent Rita Skeeter has been arrested after a confrontation with Aurors at the office building of the Daily Prophet.

Around 10:00 this morning, a team of Aurors, including Head Auror Gawain Robards, arrived at the building. The Aurors told Miss Skeeter that she was being placed under arrest for reasonable suspicion of both trespassing on Hogwarts grounds as well as being an unregistered Animagus.

In a shocking turn of events, Miss Skeeter jumped from her seat and yelled "She told you?!" before slapping a hand to her mouth. She then quickly pulled out her wand and used a Banishing Charm to send the contents laying on her desk towards the Aurors before running down the hall where a few empty office rooms were located. The Aurors quickly recovered, though, and followed her. Soon afterwards, those of us still in the main room heard a door breaking and then the casting of a Stunning Spell. After a minute of silence passed, the team of Aurors returned, and lying in Mr. Robards' left hand was an unconscious beetle. The Head Auror quickly summoned an empty box from the floor, a box which had previously been Miss Skeeter's and held some of her supplies, and he Transfigured the box into a jar before placing the beetle into the jar.

At that moment, this reporter finally recovered enough to question the Aurors about what had just happened. Mr. Robards replied, "The Auror Office was given a confidential tip that Rita Skeeter possessed a beetle Animagus form – one in which she had specific markings around her antennas that resemble the glasses she always wears – and that she could have been using it in service of her articles by eavesdropping to access information that she could otherwise never learn. We also received a statement from Minerva McGonagall, the Headmistress of Hogwarts, that Miss Skeeter had been banned by Albus Dumbledore from the Hogwarts grounds during the Triwizard Tournament, and that the articles written by Miss Skeeter in that timeframe contained information that most likely could have only been obtained if she was physically on the grounds."

Mr. Robards then held up the jar for myself and all others who gathered around me and the Aurors to see.

He said, "As you all can see, we indeed have a beetle here, one that we found trying to crawl out of an open window in one of the offices before I managed to Stun it just in time. And if you look closely, you will see the exact markings that our confidential tip said would be there. Thus, I think I can say with great confidence that we have Rita Skeeter here."

He gave the jar to one of his subordinates, who packed it away in their robes, before adding, "Now, regardless of what happened today, she will still receive a proper trial and day in court to defend herself against our initial claims as well as trying to escape today. But if you all will now excuse us, we must return to the Auror Office, and place Miss Skeeter in a holding cell."

The Daily Prophet will provide updates as proceedings continue to occur with all happenings related to today's events.

After reading the final sentence of the article, Hermione stared in astonishment for a few more seconds before finally looking up to take a glimpse throughout the Great Hall. In front of her, Lavender and Parvati were looking together in shock at their own copy of the Evening Prophet. In fact, every single person she could see was either looking at the paper or talking to someone else that was holding a paper. The buzz of voices from people discussing was even louder than that from this morning.

She then turned to Harry, who seemed to finish right afterwards as he let out an amazed scoff before looking at her. Once he did, she couldn't help the satisfied grin that slowly inched its way up her face, as everything began to sink into her mind.

Rita had actually been arrested. The Aurors had not only gone to confront her about what they had learned from Harry and Hermione, but Rita had also been stupid enough to attempt an escape and basically just confirm that everything which the Aurors had been told was true.

When he saw her grin, Harry's lips twitched upward. He then held the paper up a bit, shielding them from the view of Lavender and Parvati, before leaning closer to her.

He whispered, "I take it you're enjoying tonight's main article then?"

She smirked and replied just as quietly, "What would give you that idea? Why would I get enjoyment from the fact that the woman who has tried to smear me with false information multiple times will not only face time in prison for her actions and stupidity, but will also almost certainly have to tell to the Aurors beforehand every dirty secret that she has and learned from using her special ability?"

He chuckled before adding, "Can you believe she was so stupid that she actually tried to escape?"

She responded, "As I said in first year, Harry, when we were at that potions puzzle. A lot of even the greatest wizards and witches don't have an ounce of logic. Thus, when the time comes for someone like that to solve a new problem, they may rely on the same old solutions they've tried for everything else even when it may not benefit them, as Rita certainly tried to do in this instance."

He gave a little huff. "Well, let's just see her try and wriggle her way out of this."

At that moment, Lavender then cried out, "Hermione! Harry!"

Harry lowered the paper to the table, as the two of them turned to face Lavender and Parvati.

Lavender said, with great astonishment, "Can you believe this? Rita Skeeter actually being an unregistered Animagus and getting arrested for it?"

Hermione replied, "Yes, it's certainly unexpected to have heard this tonight." Which wasn't a lie. It was unexpected to have heard about it so quickly after she and Harry had informed the Aurors about Rita.

Parvati then jumped in. "I wonder who gave the tip to the Aurors, how that person could have learned in the first place, and why they talked to the headmistress about this as well."

But then, her eyes widened and her brow furrowed. Her eyes then looked down towards the table, shifting from left to right.

Hermione figured that Parvati was slowly connecting the dots, as the other girl then said, "Wait…"

She didn't have a chance to say much else after trailing off, though. At that moment, another horde of owls burst into the Great Hall. This time, they simply dropped their cargo on the tables before flying off, rather than waiting like the delivery owls for the Evening Prophet had done.

Owls dropped what appeared to be one magazine each in front of Lavender and Parvati. Harry and Hermione actually received two things: a magazine and an envelope. They were shocked to find that the magazine was in fact a copy of The Quibbler, a copy that had Harry's face and the words "Harry Potter Speaks Out" plastered on the front cover. When Harry then grabbed the envelope and looked at it, their eyes widened further upon seeing it marked as being from Xenophilius Lovegood and addressed to both of them.

Hermione nudged Harry and, when he turned to her, leaned in and whispered, "Mr. Lovegood already has your letter published?"

"Looks that way," he quietly responded. "But do you want to look and see for ourselves how he turned it into an article, before we open this envelope?"

"Sure," she answered.

With that, she grabbed the magazine and turned to the relevant article, which the table of contents had listed as the very first one. The article began with some words from Xenophilius himself.

This may sound familiar if you have read the Daily Prophet recently, but all in Great Britain know the name of Harry Potter. However, while most will know him simply by the titles bestowed upon him, few seem to truly realize the actual courage and integrity that the young man possesses in such great quantity. I only realized it when he rescued my daughter from being held in captivity by the Death Eaters, a rescue that she told me took a great personal cost for him with the loss of a friend. Though I know that the rescue of my daughter was certainly not for me and was more him simply wanting to save a friend, I can never thank Harry Potter enough for taking such a burden and helping to bring her home.

Therefore, when my daughter wrote to me with a plea that Harry wanted my help to get a statement to the public in the wake of the recent article published in the Daily Prophet, I did not hesitate in the slightest. Thus, I present now the words of Harry Potter himself, quoted here exactly as he wrote in the letter that was sent to me.

Indeed, Harry's words did finally begin after that. Hermione already knew the contents of the statement, so she began skimming at that point to simply check that everything was actually there, as well as to more quickly get to any more words that Xenophilius may have written.

MY RESPONSE TO RITA SKEETER AND THE DAILY PROPHET

Well, this is all too similar to events from years ago. I write this on the very morning that Rita Skeeter's latest article has been released in the Daily Prophet. It seems that, once again, Rita is publishing gossip articles related to me for a quick burst of fame. Once again, the Daily Prophet has allowed someone to publish complete and utter rubbish against me and someone close to me.

Let's get this out of the way first. Yes, I am together with Hermione Granger. Near the end of last year, after reflecting on all that she had done to help me since our friendship began and all the ways that she has simply tried to be there for me after the war's end when I started to keep people at a distance, Hermione eventually came to realize that her feelings for me were too deep to be just friendship. Meanwhile, I slowly learned through the second half of last year that Hermione was truly my best friend and the one person in my life that I just could not lose. All of that led to Hermione confessing what she felt, just before this past Christmas, and us getting together.

And how could I have ever rejected her? She's been a close friend of mine for over seven years, since Halloween 1991. All throughout those years, by being associated with me, she faced trials and horrors that no person should ever have to endure, even going through torture from Bellatrix Lestrange. Yet, Hermione willingly and faithfully faced everything, no matter the effort that it took, as long as she could help me. She stayed at my side even when no one else in the world would. She stayed with me even at a time during the war where I was hopelessly lost and could have easily just been leading her to death. And though it took much more time than it should have for me to finally realize it, how could I not want to be with someone who has been so kind and loyal to me? Someone that sees me with all my flaws and still stuck with me through so many ups and downs? How could I not fall in love with her?

And all of you who are quick to believe the false words of Rita Skeeter. You want to act like she's someone who isn't worthy of me, someone that could only ever be with me through foul methods, all because I have a couple of titles that people insist on seeing me as rather than looking at me as just Harry? None of you know a bloody thing. And while Hermione would vehemently argue against what I'm about to say, and the fact that she would means more to me than any of you could even begin to comprehend, I'm the one who isn't worthy of her.

Now, moving on to the question of earlier years.

No, Hermione and I were never together as a couple, nor were we trying to pursue any romance with each other, at any point before the Christmas holidays that just passed. No, nothing ever happened between Hermione and Viktor Krum beyond some friendship as well. No matter how much some people have tried to say something was happening, there was never any weird love triangle going on during the Triwizard Tournament, so anyone trying to say anything to the contrary is spewing lies.

Yes, in her and my sixth year of Hogwarts, Hermione did try to pursue someone else for a romantic relationship. So did I, for the record, even though no one apparently seems to give a damn about that. Again, Hermione and I never realized any deeper feelings for each other until months after the end of the war. So no, Hermione didn't drop me for someone else, as Rita tried to make it seem. It just took the two of us a while to realize what true love really is, and now that we've found it, neither of us have any plans of ever letting go of it.

And just to emphasize something for those of you reading this who are too thick to use your minds…

No. Potions have played no part in me getting together with Hermione. Frankly, it completely disgusts me that any of you would so readily believe that she would do that, all because someone has made a bid to sling mud on her reputation.

First of all, Hermione received a bunch of criticism from many in Hogwarts for wanting to find a way to help the house-elves and get them to be treated better and more equally. Does that sound like someone who would then turn around and use a love potion to take away the free will of another person?

And second, I have a method that allows me to check if there is any kind of potion contained within anything that I consume. So, if someone did try to slip me a potion, I would know about it. But if anyone reading this is stupid enough to think that I'm not serious about that, then go ahead. Just try it, and see what happens afterwards.

I know there's at least some people reading that probably still won't believe me and everything that I've written here. It doesn't really matter to me. Hermione and I both know the truth of the matter, whether or not any of you want to believe it. That's the long and short of it. The two of us are and will be together, and we'll both fight with everything we have against anyone or anything that may try to force us apart.

I'll finally end this entire rant with words to some specific people.

To Rita Skeeter, I hope you're proud of yourself for publishing false information in order to defame my best friend and the woman that I love. You know, you seem to love wanting to have my life completely investigated for every little thing. What if that were turned on you? I bet there's loads of people who would love to know exactly how you BUG people to get the tiniest sliver of information you can in order to try and spin it for an article. Why, wouldn't it be a shame if the world found out about the fact that you're an unregistered beetle Animagus, and you used that, even when you were banned from Hogwarts grounds, to try and eavesdrop for information about me and those close to me? Remember that, Rita, and how you were only saved from being revealed because you stopped writing for the Prophet for a year and also helped to publish the truth about the return of a certain Dark Lord?

Oh, I'm sorry, Rita. I wasn't supposed to talk about your secret Animagus form, was I? Well too bad. Maybe now, you'll know what it's like to have the entire world hounding you. You came after someone I love, so I don't give a damn what happens to you now.

To the Daily Prophet itself, this is the one and only warning you get. Start vetting all articles, and every bit of information used to create those articles, before they get published. Hermione was attacked with undiluted bubotuber pus because of people believing various false articles that Rita Skeeter wrote during the Triwizard Tournament, and I absolutely refuse to have a situation like that happen ever again. I promise you, if any article in the future just even slightly tries to use false information to sully Hermione's name or my own, then I will use whatever means it takes to find out any and every law that everyone employed at the Daily Prophet may have ever broken, and use that to tank the Prophet so hard that I could buy the paper for not even one Knut and become the owner. Take heed of this warning, or suffer the consequences.

Finally, to Xenophilius and Luna Lovegood, thank you both for helping to get my and Hermione's side of the story out to the public. If there is any way that I can repay you for this, please tell me. It's sad that all I want is to enjoy the happiness I have from being with my best friend, and we can't even have that without people wanting to call foul on it. Of course, with all of the troubles I've faced in my life, and especially with how the Daily Prophet tried to make me out to be insane three years ago under the direction of the administration of Cornelius Fudge, it's also not exactly unexpected. Hermione and I have no doubt that this issue won't end at Rita's article, but as I stated before, we'll face down whatever we have to in order to keep our happiness.

That was the end of Harry's own words, and Hermione gave a tiny nod at that point. Everything that Harry had written in the Room of Requirement was indeed there. There was, however, still one final bit afterwards written by Xenophilius.

There you have it, from the young man himself. He simply wants to appreciate his newfound happiness and life after the war, and with everything that he did to fight away the darkness that washed over Britain for the past few years, is it too much for him to ask for that? Have he and his beloved not more than earned a chance for peace and to find their way in life?

I certainly think they have, and if those reading this article have good decency within them, I hope you believe it as well.

-Xenophilius Lovegood, writer and editor for The Quibbler

Upon finally reaching the end, the left side of Hermione's mouth lifted slightly. It seemed that Luna's father certainly did want to make up for what happened during the war, when he thought he would be able to trade Harry, Ron, and herself to the Death Eaters in exchange for Luna. Though she would probably never forget that he had attempted that, Hermione could also still understand why he had tried since he was desperate to have Luna back, especially when she knew that her own father had done something to get the bullying of her stopped when she was in primary school, even if she still had no clue as to what he had done.

Afterwards, Hermione lifted her eyes to take a glance around the Great Hall. Similar to all the other times some bombshell was dropped, nearly everyone she could see was looking with wide eyes at a copy of The Quibbler and murmuring to their neighbors. Lavender and Parvati didn't even seem to notice that she had looked up, though at least they appeared to have the hint of a smile on their faces, probably from reading Harry's statements about falling in love.

Hermione gave a satisfied huff in her mind at the fact that, whether or not they would all believe Harry's words, that everyone was now getting the truth of the matter. She then turned her head to face Harry, finding him with a satisfied smirk as he read the article. She couldn't help immediately smirking as well, knowing that he was probably thinking along the same lines as she was.

After a few seconds, he gave a little nod before then looking at her. His grin widened slightly, and he closed the magazine before leaning in closer to her.

He whispered, "Looks like Mr. Lovegood definitely did his part. Everything I wrote is there."

"Indeed," she quietly responded. "And with it being public, all we do now is wait and see who is convinced."

He nodded before picking up the envelope addressed to them and becoming more serious. "So, do you want to open this now and read whatever's in here?"

She thought for a second and shook her head. "Not here. Let's hurry and finish our dinner, and then find a quiet place afterwards to be alone, before opening the envelope."

With that, they turned back to their plates and began eating as quickly as manners would allow while the rest of the hall was distracted. When they had finished their last bite, however, they had to look up when they heard Lavender and Parvati slap their own copies of the magazine down on the table before Parvati then said, "So it was you!"

The two girls were staring at them in awe and astonishment. Parvati opened her mouth to speak again, but Hermione quickly held up a hand to silence her. Parvati kept quiet, as Hermione pulled out her wand and nonverbally cast Muffliato to cover the four of them.

Once finished, she said, "OK, Parvati, you can speak now. No one else should be able to hear what the four of us say."

Parvati blinked for a second before starting right back where she left off. "It was you two who told the Aurors about Rita Skeeter! Before the second group of owls came in, I was starting to think that it could have been you two, since you said that you had to talk to Aurors over the potions issue, and the article in this magazine confirms it!"

Lavender jumped in at that point. "How did you do it? How did the two of you find out that Rita was an Animagus?!"

Before either could answer, Neville quickly walked over, standing by the end of the table. Luna soon followed, though much more serenely and relaxed.

As Luna stopped beside Neville, he opened his mouth, but he stopped suddenly with his expression growing quite confused. After another second, he finally said, "Why is there a buzzing in my ears all of a sudden?"

Hermione rolled her eyes a bit. Knowing, however, that Neville had never been physically close enough to feel the effects of the muffling spell whenever she and Harry were under it, she simply pulled out her wand again, cancelled the spell, and then recast it to include Neville and Luna.

As she put her wand away, she asked, "How about now, Neville?"

"It's gone," he replied. "Was it because of whatever spell you just used? Is that some kind of silencing spell?"

Harry said, "Something like that, but let's get back on track. Now, is Ginny coming or is it just you two?"

Luna replied, "Just us, Harry. Ginny is still afraid about being around the two of you."

He said, "Alright then. So, I'm guessing you two are here to learn more about how I could have known about Rita being an Animagus, right?"

Neville silently nodded.

Luna smiled and said, "Oh, I already know from three years ago, of course, that you and Hermione at least knew about Rita Skeeter having an Animagus form."

Neville, Lavender, and Parvati all looked at her in shock. Hermione knew, of course, that Luna was referring to Harry's interview with Rita about the truth behind Riddle's return and how, in order to get Rita to cooperate, Hermione had made a couple of snide references to Rita's status and how the Daily Prophet might like an insider's account of Azkaban from her. Of course, no one else had been told about those conversational details that took place before Rita actually began the official interview, which is why even Neville was surprised right now that Luna could already know.

Luna paid no mind, however, and simply continued, "It would be nice, though, to hear more details about how you learned that."

Harry turned to Hermione. "Well, like with the Aurors. Do you want to take this?"

She gave him a nod and then turned her gaze to the other four, who were now all giving her their full attention.

She said, "Alright, so. In the year of the Triwizard Tournament, Harry and I couldn't figure out how Rita was getting information for her articles even when she was banned from the grounds. Now, in the non-magical world, the term 'bugging' means having a method to listen in on a conversation at a specific place even when you aren't physically there. I mention that because, at one point during exam time that year, Harry made a statement about me being the one to research magical methods of bugging, and that's when I realized that Rita could have been using a more literal method of bugging.

"I was proven correct when I caught Rita in the hospital wing while she was in her beetle form. When I told Harry and Ron when we were on the Hogwarts Express at the end of the year, as well as showing them that I had captured her, Harry mentioned seeing a beetle on a statue where Hagrid was talking to Madame Maxime about being half-giant. I talked about Viktor Krum pulling a beetle out of my hair while we were all waiting for the scores for the second task. And we had all seen Draco Malfoy talking down into his hand at one point in the year, and with all those interviews with Slytherins that Rita had during that year, we realized that he had been talking to Rita."

She stopped to take a deep breath before continuing. "Basically, I blackmailed her with that information and forced her to stop writing for a year if she didn't want me reporting her to the Ministry. To her credit, she did comply with that as well as us wanting that interview with Harry that was published in The Quibbler. It seems, however, that she got too comfortable with her quill again, with her latest article in the Daily Prophet trying to imply that I used love potions on Harry. That's why Harry revealed it in the words of his that you all just read. And it's also why we told the team of Aurors that showed up for us, when the Head Auror made an apology about having to investigate because of so many letters being sent to the Auror Office demanding that an investigation take place. Harry wanted something good to come out of that rubbish, and I certainly couldn't disagree with him."

At that point, she couldn't help the glare that rose on her expression, which caused Lavender and Parvati to lean back slightly in fear. "And, just like Harry wrote, I don't care what happens to Rita now. She wanted to smear me again, so she can suffer the consequences."

Hermione finally grew quiet at that point. A few seconds passed in silence, before Neville gave a low whistle.

He then said to Harry and Hermione, "Merlin's beard. Well, all I'll say is… woe unto anyone who tries to get in the way of you two."

"Agreed," Lavender and Parvati immediately said at the same time.

Luna remained silent but simply smiled at the two of them.

Harry sighed and replied, "Well, we'll see whether or not the people that believed Rita's article will now change their minds after getting the actual truth. Since people did read about Rita's arrest first and thus will see that I was being completely truthful about her when I talked about her Animagus form, maybe that will help to convince people of everything I said. But my expectations aren't exactly high."

Hermione couldn't help putting her hand on his thigh in comfort. When he turned to her, she said, "Whatever happens, we'll get through it together."

He gave a small smile and placed his hand on top of hers. Then, he merely said, "Yeah, I know."

Another small silence passed among the group afterwards.

Luna was the one to break it this time. "It was quite nice of you to include that thank you to Daddy and me in your letter. I wasn't expecting to see that in Daddy's article."

Harry shrugged his shoulders and responded, "It was the right thing to do. You obviously deserved thanks because you sent my letter to your father and put the question to him about publishing it. And if he was willing to put those words out to the world, then he deserved our gratitude. It's especially earned considering he got the article out so quickly."

Hermione added, "In fact, Luna, if you want, you can tell him we said that, the next time you talk to him."

She turned back to Harry and said more quietly, "Speaking of Mr. Lovegood – "

He immediately nodded at what she was referring to. Hermione canceled the muffling spell, while Harry stuffed the envelope into his pocket, before the two stood from the table.

As the two of them grabbed their bags, however, Lavender exclaimed, "Wait!"

Harry and Hermione stopped and looked at her in confusion, while also trying not to pay any attention to the fact that they could notice from the edges of their vision how many people at every table in the Great Hall were gawking at them again.

At that point, though, Lavender gave a warm smile. "It's so sweet and wonderful that you both really will go so far for one another."

There was no hesitation in Harry's response, and though his words were directed to Lavender, he held his gaze on Hermione. "When you've found someone who's worth doing anything for, it's easy to go far for them."

Hermione couldn't help smiling tenderly at him before simply saying, "Agreed."

His eyes went soft as he gave a quick nod. Then, he grew serious and whispered, "Alright, what do you say we leave?"

She nodded and then said to the rest, "See you all later."

The others gave farewells, as Hermione and Harry took each other's hand and started walking out of the Great Hall, keeping their heads high amidst the stares they were receiving.

Once they were out of the room, Harry asked, "OK, so where to?"

Hermione said, "The Room of Requirement, our replica of the common room. That way, we'll be assured of privacy that we may not get even in the library."

He just nodded. They remained silent the rest of the way, and soon enough, they were in their private room, sitting next to each other at a study table. Harry finally opened the envelope and pulled out what was inside. After unfolding the parchment within to reveal a letter, the two began reading.

To Harry Potter and Hermione Granger,

Hopefully, since I sent a copy of The Quibbler for the two of you, you will have already seen the article I created from the letter of yours that my daughter sent to me. I must say, it was quite the shock to have received the news from Luna that you wanted our help and wished to use The Quibbler again, but I am greatly honored that you did in spite of what happened between us last year.

While my next words were also put into the finished article, I must say them again and add something to them. I can never thank you enough for all that you did. Not only did you put yourself at great risk to help rescue my daughter, but you have also kept silent about my attempted betrayal of you, even when I would completely understand and accept whatever consequences await me if you would choose to reveal what happened. I cannot begin to tell you how heavily that betrayal has weighed on my mind when, after I had been released from Azkaban and first reunited with Luna when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was dead, my daughter told me everything that happened to her.

Luna knows what I tried to do, of course, because I could never have kept it hidden from her after hearing her tale. My wonderful little girl forgave me, and she tried to tell me that you most likely understood why I did such a thing even if you obviously did not agree with it or would not just forget about it, but that does not change how the foolish actions I took to get my daughter back, and I say foolish because it is highly probable that the Death Eaters would still not have returned her even if I gave you to them, could have led to the loss of the war.

Thus, that is why I am so thankful to have received the chance to begin atoning for my deeds, and I did everything in my power, even losing sleep over the past few days, to get your words released to the public as quickly as possible. I even had a wonderful article about a sighting of Heliopaths that was originally going to be the lead story this month, but once I received your letter and the plea of help from my daughter, I knew that had to wait and that nothing held more importance than your request.

That is also why I have sent what is hopefully enough free copies of this new issue of The Quibbler to Hogwarts, so that every person there can have a copy and read the article. If it is not enough, then hopefully they will read or hear the words from someone close to them. As for the rest of Britain, the cover will hopefully be striking enough that word will quickly spread about the new issue and people will read your words.

Finally, it is so humbling that you wanted to give thanks to me if I did as you requested. There is no need at all for you to thank me. It was a great honor that I could help the two of you to set the record straight and put the Daily Prophet to shame for what they have done. And if there should ever be any way that I could help you in the future, please do not hesitate to ask. I and The Quibbler are at your service.

This does give me an idea. Perhaps I could make a change to the magazine and have the first half be news of the more ordinary variety, like this new article or the articles I printed in support of you during the war before the Death Eaters captured my daughter, and the second half would then be the typical news I have done throughout the history of The Quibbler. People seemed to love the interview of yours that was printed three years ago, so if a similar reaction happens again with the current issue, perhaps that would be a sign that should not be ignored.

I digress, however. Thank you again, for not only wanting my help but also for everything that you suffered in order to destroy He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. I hope that my article is to your liking and that it helps in changing people's minds to believe you.

Xenophilius Lovegood

Hermione couldn't help giving a soft chuckle when she finished reading.

She turned to Harry when he spoke up, though he still kept his eyes on the parchment. "I know that little laugh means something is on your mind, but let me finish reading this first."

A tiny smirk then rose on his lips. "The rest of us aren't quite as fast as you with reading."

That caused Hermione to let out a quick yet full laugh, but she remained silent otherwise. Another minute passed before Harry finally finished the letter and turned his head to face her.

He smiled and said, "Before I ask about you, I have to say first… it looks like Mr. Lovegood really does want to make up for what happened last year, doesn't it? While I may never really forget what happened back then, I can definitely see that he's remorseful about it."

She smiled in return. "That's actually the same thing that I was thinking about earlier. And yes, it seems he does want to atone, especially given how quickly he got this article and issue released."

Harry nodded at first. When he looked back down to the letter again, however, his smile dropped as his expression slowly became more pensive.

Hermione took hold of his hand, gaining his attention again, and quietly asked, "What's wrong?"

He waited for a second before replying, "Just… think about how much has happened in such little time. Just three days ago, the initial article from Rita Skeeter was published in the Prophet and you received that Howler. Only two days ago, the Aurors came to basically interrogate us. But now look at everything that happened today. We've gotten the statements of support from both Kingsley and Robards, the Aurors have already managed to arrest Rita because she foolishly revealed herself, and Mr. Lovegood has so quickly gotten my letter published without even waiting to tell us in the first place that he was willing to help us."

He took a deep breath and released it as a sigh. "I know Kingsley told us that my name held weight at the moment within the Ministry, but it's only now really hitting me just how much power it holds there and even beyond. And I… I don't know how to feel about it."

He shook his head for a second. "I mean, I guess I should be grateful for it, shouldn't I? That weight is basically the only reason that we received all of this assistance. But it – "

Hermione squeezed his hand at that moment, causing him to go quiet. Then, she gently replied, "But it's a lot to take in, and it worries you, to know that you hold so much sway both inside and outside of the magical government. And you think that this is power that you shouldn't have. Does that sound right?"

His lips twitched upward before he said, "Yeah, that's probably the best way to put it."

She nodded sympathetically at first. Then, an idea hit her about how she could soothe him.

Hermione said, "Well, think about this then, Harry. What did you do with the Elder Wand?"

Both his expression and subsequent reply were quite quizzical. "I destroyed it, because I didn't want its power but also didn't want that kind of power to fall into the wrong hands. You know that."

She responded with another question. "And if it was a choice between having such influence and just being a normal person that wider society doesn't know, you would prefer the latter, right?"

"Yeah," he said. "As handy as my fame was in doing something to stop these latest smears on you, you also would never have been attacked in the first place if not for the combination of the recognition of my name and your association with me."

She smiled and lightly shook her head at his nobility before saying, "And me knowing that you would choose a normal, quiet life over all the fame of the world is why I don't worry, and why you shouldn't worry either, about you having that kind of power. If it was anyone else possessing such power, there's no telling how far they might go with it. But I know that you would never abuse it like that. I know that you would only ever use it for something good."

Harry's gaze went completely soft at the faith she held in him. The ghost of a smile was pulling on his lips as he said, "But if I do ever worry, I can always talk to you about my fears. Right, Angel?"

Her smile grew as she nodded. "Right, Emerald."

A full smile finally burst forth on his face. Then, Harry leaned in and gently kissed her. Hermione let go of his hand but immediately placed it on his cheek, as they slowly kissed.

When they pulled back, they silently gazed at one another for a few more seconds. Then, Harry whispered, "A hell of a day today, wasn't it?"

Hermione gave a quiet snort before saying, "Yes, that's certainly one way to put it."

He chuckled for a moment before growing much more serious. "We're still not out of the woods yet, though. The person that first talked to Rita is still somewhere here at Hogwarts. We can't let our guards down until we solve that mystery."

She nodded. "I know. And until they leave some kind of clue to their identity, staying on guard is all we can do right now. But let's not let that cloud ruin the good that we received today."

He gave a small smile. "No, you're right. It was definitely a lot of steps forward made today."

His smile then changed into a smirk. "So, instead of spending any more time worrying about what can't be controlled, what do you say we worry about what can be and start our study session for the night?"

She let loose a little giggle before saying, "It's like you know the way to my heart."

He laughed again before they pulled out their books.

Thus, they began working, and while doing so, the same thought was on both of their minds. They were grateful that they could get assistance so quickly against the smears on Hermione, they were grateful to the many people that were willing to help the two of them, and last but almost certainly most of all, they were simply grateful to have each other.


A/N: A chapter with a fair amount of good happenings this time for our lovely couple! Things may have happened quickly, but of course, when you've been credited twice over as the savior of the British wizarding world like Harry has, his name would have enough sway, in the short-term aftermath of the war at the very least, such that there would be plenty of people that would fall over themselves to do whatever he wants. And hence, that's also why the little bit was included where Harry was somewhat overwhelmed by seeing it happen all at once, since that fits with his "I've had enough trouble for a lifetime" statement he makes in the DH book.

Of course, things haven't been completely resolved, but those details will come in future chapters.

If you made it this far, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you stay tuned for more!